Product Description

Shocking and intricate pre-teen coming of age tale where adolescence and adulthood collide, exploring the complexities of children losing their innocence and adults struggling to guide them. Sparked by the tragic death of Jacob's twin brother, a trio of friends band together as they grapple with feelings of revenge, grief and experiences of growing up. As each family's personal challenges are revealed, they learn to better understand each other and their own realities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54816 in DVD
• Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
• Released on: 2006-10-10
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 94 minutes

Amazon.com
The raw and fragile lives of three preteens unravel in 12 and Holding, a rich and compelling independent film. When an outgoing boy named Rudy is accidentally killed by two other boys, Rudy's twin brother Jacob (Conor Donovan) starts visiting the killers in prison to try to make sense of his life and of his parent's diverse reactions; his mother (Jayne Atkinson, 24) craves revenge while his father (Linus Roache, Priest) tries to move forward. Meanwhile, two of the twins' friends also spin off in diverse directions: Precocious Malee (Zoe Weizenbaum) becomes fixated on a troubled construction worker (Jeremy Renner, North Country), while overweight Leonard (Jesse Camacho) obsesses on losing weight and forcing his obese family to lose weight as well. 12 and Holding moves fluidly between these three stories, gradually building an emotional intimacy with the characters that is unsettling, sad, and finally rewarding. The movie hits a few false notes, but the vast majority of the scenes feel vivid and honest, much like director Michael Cuesta's previous film, L.I.E.. Both the adults (including Annabella Sciorra, Jungle Fever) and the kids give excellent performances; Renner's wrenching turn stands out, but the entire cast makes this a memorable and complex film. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Band of Brothers
Rudy and Jacob Carges are twins and almost exact opposites: Rudy is brash, always willing to fight, good at sports and dedicated to his weaker, port-wine stained on the face brother, Jacob. The twins also have two good friends Malee Chaung (Zoe Weizenbaum): an in your face, smart as a whip, flute player and Leonard Fisher (Jesse Camacho): a way overweight kid who wouldn't think of camping out without a huge bag of pretzels and licorice. They are all 12 years old...hence the title but none of the four are in any way in a holding pattern. In fact they are all straining at the bit of pre-adolescence, dying to be teenagers, have romances and do whatever it is that they want. As in Director Michael Cuesta' previous film, "L.I.E.," these kids are mature beyond their years, conflicted and mostly very lonely.
Added to this pre-adolescence mix are a couple of adults: Annabella Sciorra as Malee's mother who is as lost if not more so than Malee and a sensitive, devastated, psychologically suffering Gus beautifully portrayed by Jeremy Renner ("Dahmer"). It is particularly heartening to see Renner playing someone other than a weirdo and nailing it.
Cuesta is after a lot more here then even in his richly textured "L.I.E." In "Twelve and Holding," he wants to expose the dynamics, troubles, slice open and expose the social and psychological machinations of the modern American family: and he pretty much succeeds on all fronts.

A Haunting and Gripping Tale
To say that TWELVE AND HOLDING is a haunting film is an understatement. At the beginning we meet four twelve year olds: twins Jacob and Rudy Carges (both played by Conor Donovan), Malee (Zoe Weizenbaum) and Leonard (Jesse Comacho). We soon realize that the four are friends not so much because of what they share in common as much as the fact they are four people who have no one else. Jacob is disfigured and Rudy reluctantly comes to his rescue. His attempts to protect his brother, which may be due as much to pride as brotherly love angers some bullies who set his tree house ablaze not realizing he's in it. The remainder of the film focuses on the life the three remaining friends live after Rudy's death. Jacob becomes fixed on revenge and visits his brother's killers in prison without his parents' knowledge. His parents adopt a child as a replacement which is obvious to Jacob though not to the parents. Jesse becomes obsessed with losing weight because a coach feels sorry for him because he's the most overweight child he's ever seen. Malee falls in love with a construction worker who is a patient of her psychoanalyst mother. The film has a number of surprising plot twists which make it anything but predictable and we seem to get inside the world of some loners we all know exits but most of us never get to know.

There are many positive aspects of the film. The actors are convincing and the world created seems plausible. The story may seem too far fetched for some viewers, as some critics claimed when it was released and this would be true for most typical adolescents and even some who are not so typical, but we're talking about twelve year olds reacting to grief with no one to reach out to them. There are a few scenes that while interesting, don't quite connect to the larger story, but it is well paced, well acted, and certainly one that will remain with a viewer for a while.

Distrubing yet thought provoking.
This is generally not a family movie about adolescence. Although it is tame in comparison to other thought provoking adolescent movies. The movies has many characters of varying ages. Most of the acting is very good and the parts played seem very realistic. You aren't going to be thrown on a ride of precoscious drug and alcohol abuse with sexual expermentation. This movie plays a realistic role of what many preteens experience on a daily basis. The constant battle to be known and wanted. Self awareness seems to be a very important stage of these young characters lives and getting to know them makes this movie all that better. One character works to battle his being overweight while another becomes aware of her sexuality and uses it to flirt. Although the main character has to battle demons that knowone would wish on a child that young. His twin brother was killed in a terrible event and he faces those demons by confronting the two who killed him. This movie is chilling at points and can make you feel good at others. Just when you think it's going in one direction it throws you for a curve and puts you somewhere else. I think if you watch this movie you will be plestantly surprised...I was.